This invention comprises a basic device used with different sensing means to detect and treat snoring, bruxism or sleep apnea.
Bruxism has been defined as the non-purposeful grinding or clenching of teeth. This results in excessive teeth wear and in some cases loosening and loss of teeth. Other physical problems such as headaches and deterioration of jawbone joint also may occur. Of course the excessive grinding noise may also be deleterious to relationships with others as well.
Sleep apnea is a cessation of breathing during sleep that results in the person awakening for no reason he or she may be conscious of or of partial awakening or sleeping fitfully. Sleep apnea has been difficult to diagnose in a simple fashion. One of the objects of this invention is to allow simple diagnosis of sleep apnea.
The use of a mild electric shock or aversive stimulation to modify behavior is known in the arts. Snoring is, of course, easily detected by others. My U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,010 for a Snore Depressor is for a device to being about behavior modification or conditioning by administering an adjustable electrical shock with each snore sound with the shock being insufficient to awaken the sleeper. The subconcious mind associates the "punishment" of slight electrical shock with a snore sound and after a few night's use, the user becomes conditioned (behavior modification) to stop snoring. Usually this conditioning or behavior modification lasts several months before a short time re-use of the conditioning device becomes necessary.
Sleep apnea refers to non-breathing which occurs during sleep. It is a serious and sometimes life threatening disorder. Studies of thirty-five individuals suffering from sleep apnea in Stanford University's Sleep Disorder Clinic indicated the average number of episodes of non-breathing or sleep apnea ranged between 68 and 682 in a seven hour sleep period. The length of time of each episode lasted between 10 and 190 seconds.
With only a few exceptions, a medical examination will reveal no characteristic physical abnormalities in a person having sleep apnea. Therefore, at present the only means of detecting the condition is by clinical examination of observing the person while asleep. One object of the present invention is to provide a simple method for diagnosing sleep apnea that may be used by the patient himself.
There are two major types of sleep apnea. One, called "central sleep apnea" is relatively rare; the other, a more common and serious type is called "upper airway sleep apnea". Some success in treating "central sleep apnea" has been had with drugs. Treatment for "upper airway sleep apnea" involves a tracheotomy in which a hollow T tube is inserted in the trachea through a hole in the neck. The protruding end of the T tube is closed with a valve that may be opened at night so the person may then breath freely with air bypassing blockage of the upper airway.
Surgery is also used to treat "upper airway sleep apnea". In some cases enlarged folds of tissue at the top of the throat produce an obstruction during sleep. In these cases, surgery may be performed to cut away the excess folds of tissue. One physician has described this as a face lift on the throat. Both methods of treatment have obvious disadvantages. It is an object of this invention to use conditioning of the sub conscious mind to condition against or effectively treat both types of apnea.
Since apnea is usually accompanied by snoring, the invention makes it possible to treat both snoring and apnea in the same sleep period or to switch the snore sensor out of the circuit to diagnose or to treat sleep apnea alone.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,010, issued 11/25/1969 for an Electric Snore Depressor, an adjustable electric shock or aversive stimulation was used to condition a sleeper against snoring. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,379 issued 9/10/1974 to Mooza Grant describes aversive stimulation to inhibit self injurious behavior. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,160 issued to Fischell et al Apr. 3, 1984 aversive stimulation to condition against self injurious blows by the patient is described.
The present invention utilizes a regulatable electric shock for behavior modification reducing or eliminating snoring, bruxism, or sleep apnea and includes means to detect sleep apnea, bruxism, or snoring and monitor progress of the deconditioning behavioral modification. Further, placement of electrodes for administering a regulatable electric shock in the neckband or collar in this invention is such that the electrical stimulation of a motor nerve occurs allowing the use of a shock so mild that a sleeper is not awakened. Commercial use in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,010 for a Snore Depressor had shown that this effectively modified behavior to depress or completely eliminate snoring. We have added an electronic counter in order for a person to monitor his changes in behavior and modified the circuitry to allow similar type conditioning to alleviate bruxism and sleep apnea. The basic circuitry is enclosed in a collar with electrodes for administering a regulatable shock and separate means of sensing apnea and bruxism have been developed. The means for sensing snoring is built into the collar. Thus the Snore Depressor is improved by adding a counter to indicate progress in conditioning and the electronic circuitry is modified to allow use of conditioning by an electrical shock that is minimal enough not to waken the sleeper but will actuate a motor nerve to bring about conditioning to avert bruxism, or sleep apnea, or snoring. The methods of sensing bruxism and sleep apnea as well as use of an aversive stimulation to contact a motor nerve for conditioning against these is unique.